Members of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel have reportedly been “given permission” to fire at US Border Patrol agents, according to an internal memo sent to federal agents in the El Paso sector.
NewsNation, which first reported on the memo, stated that Mexican cartels have authorized their members to engage in gunfire with US agents along the border. The memo disclosed that just last week, shots were fired at contractors working near Eagle Pass through the border fence.
Historically, Mexican drug cartels have avoided direct violent confrontations with US law enforcement. However, the recent arrests of drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of “El Chapo,” have led some cartel members to adopt a more aggressive stance toward US agents.
“They fear no one anymore, especially US law enforcement,” former Homeland Security Investigation agent Victor Avila told NewsNation. “They do have the resources and they do have the capability, and they will use them against us… The No. 1 reason they fight for these plazas is because these plazas are the corridors to enter the United States, whether California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and that’s the major fight because the Sinaloa cartel has controlled that whole area.”
Infighting within the cartel continues as its leadership weakens, with factions battling each other. In Sinaloa, over 190 people have been killed due to the violence, according to the Daily Mail. The cartels have also set up blockades in Culiacan with checkpoints where drivers are searched by armed cartel members. They inspect phones, and individuals found to have contacts with rival cartels are often killed.
“We have long heard from Border Control agents that they face increased risks in their frontline jobs,” said Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, according to the Daily Mail. “These reports are just further proof that the cartels will stop at nothing to take what they want.”
